The present invention relates to navigation systems and more particularly the present invention relates to a feature in a navigation system that facilitates making stops at points of interest of a specified type while traveling.
Navigation systems are available that provide end users (such as drivers and passengers of the vehicles in which the in-vehicle navigation systems are installed) with various navigation-related functions and features. For example, some navigation systems are able to determine an optimum route to travel by roads between locations in a geographic region. Using input from the end user, and optionally from equipment that can determine one's physical location (such as a GPS system), a navigation system can examine various routes between two locations to determine an optimum route to travel from a starting location to a destination location in a geographic region. The navigation system may then provide the end user with information about the optimum route in the form of guidance that identifies the driving maneuvers required to be taken by the end user to travel from the starting location to the destination location. The guidance may take the form of visual and/or audio instructions that are provided along the way as the end user is traveling the route. Some navigation systems are able to show detailed maps on computer displays outlining routes to destinations, the types of maneuvers to be taken at various locations along the routes, locations of certain types of features, and so on.
In order to provide these and other navigating functions, navigation systems use geographic data. The geographic data may be in the form of one or more databases that include data that represent physical features in a geographic region. The geographic database may include data representing the roads and intersections in a geographic region and also may include information relating to the represented roads and intersections in the geographic region, such as turn restrictions at intersections, speed limits along the roads, street names of the various roads, address ranges along the roads, and so on.
Although navigation systems provide many important features, there continues to be room for new features or other improvements. One area in which there is room for improvement relates to making travel more convenient. A person can use a navigation system to identify points of interest of a particular type (e.g., restaurants) that are close to the person's location and receive guidance for traveling to any of the identified points of interest. This type of usage represents one kind of travel that persons commonly make but there are various other kinds of travel. For example, some kinds of locations do not have to be visited immediately. As an example, a person might want to stop at a post office (or other type of point of interest) sometime within the next several days when it is convenient to do so but would rather not make a special trip. Ideally, the person would prefer to make the stop at the post office while in route to another destination if the stop can be made without taking a significant additional amount of time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a feature in a navigation system that provides guidance about making stops at locations at the convenience of the user.